The MEW Project
by MagicalStrawberry
Summary: My name is Ichigo, 18 years old. You know my story as a light-hearted magical girl story with romance and sparkly outfits. Well, you're wrong. Welcome to the real "Tokyo Mew Mew". (rated T for possible language and violence in later chapters.)
1. Prologue

_A.N: So this is my first ever fanfiction, and of course, it had to be about my first ever anime, Tokyo Mew Mew. I've put my own little dark twist on it, so I hope you enjoy. Character's names will be slightly different to the original because it's not all set in Japan, but they'll be recognisably close. (I may or may not include some of my preferred pairings later on.)_

_ Now, because I'm Australian, I use the English spelling of words, so don't tell me I misspelled "color" because a) you suck and b) it's actually spelt as "colour". This applies to other words too. Thanks._

* * *

I used to hope that my life would become a story. I used to love stories and absorb them at every opportunity – I was always glued to the TV, engrossed in a film, devouring a book, obsessing over an anime… I wanted a different life to my own, one with adventure, romance and companions to journey around the world with.

I suppose in a twisted way, I got that wish.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with "Tokyo Mew Mew". Five magical girls with cute fluffy weapons, falling in love, fighting colourful cartoon monsters and saving the day as a team. That's my story – well, supposedly. Although that Ichigo and I are the same person, the anime Ichigo and the real me are different. The fabricated story isn't even close to mirroring the truth, but of course, the truth was never supposed to be revealed.

The details of the 'MEW Project' are top secret. Which means if you have found this, it means that someone in charge is dead and I've managed to get this out to the public.

Welcome to the real "Tokyo Mew Mew".


	2. Monday

That day was like any other, yet I remember each detail painfully clearly.

I woke up at seven like every morning, too early for my liking, and began my morning routine. Uniform on, hair into two pigtails secured with ribbon, reply to a good morning text from my boyfriend of two weeks, then run out the door with breakfast in hand. Mum bade me a cheerful goodbye and I promised to hang out the washing if I got home before her.

Once I got to school I met my friends Mimi and Molly at the lockers and we caught up on the weekend's gossip. Mimi complimented me on my hair – I'd had it redyed to make the shade of baby pink look refreshed. Then it was time to head to the first class of the day, but I couldn't help smiling because I knew that Andrew, my boyfriend, would be there.

His face lit up in a bright smile once I stepped in the room, which I returned. We were still in the awkward stage of getting to know one another, but I really liked him already. He was sweet, smart and athletic and I knew how lucky I was. It's not often that the slightly weird girl with the unnatural pink hair gets a date with the black-haired, blue-eyed school celebrity.

I sat down next to him and we whispered to each other about our weekends as the teacher started droning on about the function of the autonomic nervous system. We were only interrupted by an announcement over the P.A system.

"Attention students. All Year 12 girls are to report to the hall for annual injections. Year 11 girls shall report in at the beginning of second period." I cursed to myself – how could I have forgotten? I'm terrified of needles and have managed to skip the last few years. Andrew gave me a knowing look and pushed me to the door after the rest of the girls in the class. I followed them regretfully, casting a desperate look back to Andrew before giving in.

I skittishly made my way down to the hall using my favourite shortcut through the garden. I was tempted to bolt in the complete opposite direction, but I'd already been marked present so I'd get in heaps of trouble when they figured out I snuck off. I took a moment to catch my breath and regain my composure before slipping back amongst the crowd of girls. We were shepherded into the line.

I rubbed my sweaty palms on my skirt. Most people around me seemed a bit annoyed at being dragged out of class, although girls here or there were panicking quietly. I saw girls walking out of the small, curtained booths which had been set up with plasters on their upper arms. One girl complained loudly about how much it had hurt. A wave of nausea hit me.

_ Nope, nope, nope,_ I thought, cringing to myself. I glanced around for a teacher. "Miss!" I called. A young teacher with thick glasses who I didn't recognise turned around. "Can I go to the toilet?"

"Sure, but remember where you were in line," she replied. I heaved a sigh of relief and dashed to the back room of the hall where the toilets were. _Now to make my grand escape. I'll head back to class with everyone none the wiser_, I thought. I looped around and managed to dart out the other side of the hall with the people who'd already received injections.

No, that was way too easy. Plus, if I go back to class with my arm in perfect condition, that'll be too obvious. A stupid yet brilliant plan came to me. I watched one of the closed off booths closely and waited for the nurse inside to go out to fetch another student. Then I ran inside, grabbed a spare plaster, and slapped it on my arm. I was about to dash away when I saw a clipboard with a list of names on it and some random data beside each one.

I could tick my name off and the problem would be completely solved. I whipped a pen out of my pocket and scanned down the list searching for my name. Strangely enough, when I found it, it was highlighted. There were two other highlighted names on the list, but both had a tick next to them and a note scrawled beside them reading 'not suitable'.

I put a tick beside my name and ran back to class as quickly as I could. I wasn't the first girl back to class after the injections so nobody suspected a thing.

"How was it?" Andrew asked kindly at the end of the class.

"Better than I thought it would be," I grinned. He walked me back to my locker and then we headed on our separate ways for our next class. My heart fluttered and I smiled stupidly to myself, as a lovey-dovey eighteen year old does.

The rest of the day passed quickly. Between receiving piles of homework, chatting with Mimi and Molly, and exchanging flirtatious glances with Andrew, I barely had time to even think about the suspicious list.

I was reminded all too quickly when during the final period of the day, Japanese, I got a note telling me to go to the school office.

"It's probably just about your pink hair," Molly reasoned.

"Erm, probably." I packed up my stuff and chucked it in my locker on the way.

When I got there, I was surprised that I was the only one in the office. I thought that there'd be at least a few more people who'd skipped out on injections. I guess they figured out that I'd tried to tick myself off. Maybe it was actually about my hair!

"Oh, you're here." I turned and saw the principal, a short, balding man with watery blue eyes, stood beside an unfamiliar man who looked like a teacher. The man, who towered over the principal and had long brown hair, smiled. I was immediately suspicious – his smile looked carefully crafted rather than genuine. Maybe it was my pink hair, it tended to put people off a bit.

"This is Dr. Akasaka, he's in charge of the clinic running the immunisation program," the principal said by way of introduction. Oh crap, this guy likes needles. Must be a sick, twisted bastard.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said. I expected him to have a Japanese accent, but his English was so good that it was barely audible. "May I have a word with you?"

The principal ushered the two of us into his office and closed the door. My suspicions doubled.

"Miss…" he trailed off, waiting for me to supply my name.

I decided to lie. What's a good fake name? Uh… I mean, he'd probably look it up later, but at least he couldn't get me into trouble within the next few minutes.

Fake name, fake name… "I'm Winry Rockbell," I grinned.

"Well, Miss Rockbell, I'd like you to join the MEW Project."

_The what? Am I gonna be a Pokémon trainer?_ I thought.

He clearly understood my confused expression and elaborated, "the MEW Project is… Well, let's say a group of elite students, hand-picked to join, who will receive training and learn how to become a valuable member of the general community."

I didn't know where to start telling him he was completely wrong. First of all, I am by no means elite. I mean, I guess my grades are good, A or A+ average in all subjects, but when it comes to dealing with actual life situations I'm hopeless. I can't cook, I run in front of cars by accident all the time, and even my friends constantly tell me I'm weird.

Also, the 'general community' can piss right off. I don't like most people and I'm certainly not joining some stupid project to help them out.

Thirdly, I may not be elite but I'm not dumb either. What kind of training? Also, why is there a strange man recruiting young high school girls by himself? No, thanks.

"Um… No, sorry, I like this school," I said.

He raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "I'm afraid you don't fully grasp the situation. Once you have been selected for the MEW Project, you are obliged to–"

"I am _so_ not. I didn't sign up for it so you can't make me. Why the hell would you even pick someone like me anyway? Ugh, this is so dodgy. You'll have to find someone else."

"And that is the exact reason we've chosen you," he smiled blandly. "You have excellent instincts."

"Yeah? Well, my instinct is to get the hell out of here, so catch you later." I turned and grabbed the door handle, but it was locked. What… I shot Dr. Akasaka a fierce glare. He responded with another smile. I was tempted to smack it right off his face, but I'd get in so much trouble for that at school.

I walked past him to get to the window, planning to jump out. Before I could respond, he grabbed me around the shoulders and sighed.

"Why do they always make it so difficult?" he grumbled. Suddenly there was a cloth held over my face and I felt my legs crumble beneath me. The principal's office dissolved into a black fog.

* * *

_A.N: Hey guys, in case you didn't realise it, Mimi and Molly are Ichigo's random friends (I think they're called Moe and Miwa) and Andrew is Aoyama. If you haven't figured out who Dr. Akasaka is, shame on you._


	3. Awakening

_A.N: I'd like to send a huge thank you to kisshuismylife for my first ever review! It means so much to me \(;w;)/_

* * *

I was drawn out of sleep by a quiet, high-pitched buzzing sound and bright, flickering lights behind my eyelids. A sharp, clean smell made my nostrils feel as if they were being scrubbed raw.

"Oh crap, where the hell am I?" I bolted upright. I was lying in a bland hospital bed with white sheets which crinkled noisily whenever I moved. I was still in my school uniform and my hand instantly flew to my pocket, but it seemed as if someone had taken my phone while I'd been napping. Who would have…? Then the memories came flooding back – the suspicious injections and the even more suspicious Dr. Akasaka.

Why am I in a hospital? I didn't think skipping out on a needle was serious enough to land me in here. No, wait, Dr. Akasaka had used some chemical on me to knock me out. So… I've been _kidnapped_!

"Hey!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "What the hell is going on?" I stood up and flung the blankets aside. I was in a small while room with only one bed and a few chairs. There was a bedside table next to the bed, which I started investigating. There was only an entirely blank notepad, absolutely nothing to indicate where I was – this could be any hospital in any city. There were footsteps passing by outside, but nobody came into the room.

I moved to the door and tried the handle, but of course it was locked. _I'm starting to get _really_ sick of all these locked doors_, I thought angrily. I hadn't found a key anywhere inside the drawers either, so maybe I was stuck here until Dr. Akasaka felt the urge to let me go. Well, too bad for him. I still had my heavy-duty school shoes on.

I made sure my balance was perfect and then struck out at the handle with my heel. It made a loud thudding sound but nothing else. _Damn_. There was no glass for me to try smashing either, or any windows to jump out of. I had to figure out how the handle works. I tried jiggling it up and down and turning it in multiple directions to no avail. When I peeked through the keyhole, I could only see a white wall on the other side.

I screamed in frustration. This is so stupid! I want to get _out_! Maybe I have to get someone to release me, then. I grabbed the thinnest blanket from the bed and began sliding it out the crack beneath the door into whatever room was outside. Eventually, one of the passing footsteps paused outside the door and I heard a key click into the lock. Finally!

The door opened to reveal a girl my age wearing a long black cloak. I could only see her face, but she was beautiful – pale skin, large brown eyes and thick lashes. Her lips were pursed and eyebrows furrowed, as if letting me out of this weird room was extremely annoying.

"Thanks," I said whole-heartedly.

"Who are you?" she responded coolly. She had a slight accent but I couldn't tell where it came from.

"Huh? I could ask you the same thing. More importantly, where are we?"

"Oh, no," she sighed.

"What?"

"You're a new recruit, aren't you?"

"Not this MEW Project rubbish again," I moaned. "Surely not. Please tell me there's a way out of here. I want to go home."

"Judging from your accent, you're a long way from home," she smirked. "Hm, are you from New Zealand or Australia? Well, right now we're in the MEW Project headquarters, in Tokyo."

"_Tokyo?_" I repeated, dumb-founded. I'd always wanted to visit Tokyo, but _how did I get here?! _Did that freaky doctor sneak me on a plane while I was unconscious? What about my family? I was going to hang the washing out tonight!

Or maybe it wasn't even 'tonight'. I have no idea how long I've been unconscious for.

The girl laughed. "Oh, you really don't know anything. Didn't Dr. Akasaka give you any of the details?" I shook my head. She continued, "well, I suppose I shouldn't be the one to tell you about it. Where's that lazy Shirogane? This is meant to be his job."

"Um," I started hesitantly, "can everyone here speak English?" I knew Shirogane was a Japanese name and although I could speak the basics I really didn't want to try and interpret an explanation of whatever the hell was going on.

"Most people can, Shirogane's half American though so don't worry. I'm from Italy so I speak Italian, English and Japanese, but most people only speak English and Japanese. You'll have to learn how to speak Japanese eventually though," she told me.

"Okay. Lucky I did Japanese classes in Australia," I nodded as I tried to take in all the information. "So, how do I find Shirogane?"

"Ah, I suppose I'll have to take you," she sighed loudly. I smiled to myself – this girl was acting prickly on the outside, but she was actually really helping me out so she couldn't be all bad. She walked back out the door and I followed her into a long corridor. Once I was out of the small hospital-like room, I breathed a sigh of relief. It's not as if I'm claustrophobic, but being trapped in there without knowing my surroundings wasn't a pleasant experience.

The corridor looked the same as the room – bare, white, harsh lighting. I walked in silence behind the girl, but I had to be careful not to tread on the end of her cloak. Although, when I looked closely, I noticed dark stains patching the bottom half of her cloak. I tried to tell myself it was water, yet I thought otherwise. I grimaced, wondering if I was falling into a trap, but this girl didn't seem to be acting, and I was quickly learning to trust my instincts.

We reached two blue doors at the end of the corridor and she shoved them open -confidently. We appeared to be in a large foyer area, although there were no doors leading to outside. In fact, there were still no windows to be seen. Instead, elevators and doors seemed to line the walls, and there was an office area in the centre of the room. The girl ignored the office area and led me to one of the elevators.

We stepped inside and she pushed a button for level 10. It seemed we were currently on level 3, which explained the lack of doors leading to outside.

"This is a big building," I gasped.

"What, don't you have multi-storey buildings in Australia?" she snorted.

"Of course we do," I muttered. She chuckled to herself as we arrived at our destination. The elevator doors opened to reveal another large room with elegant furnishings. Everything was clean and modern, and although it looked stylish, I thought it seemed quite impersonal. Then again, I suppose that suited the whole ominous-evil-corporation vibe that they had going on.

As the girl and I started through the room, heading for a set of doors to the left, a burly security guard appeared, seemingly from nowhere.

"Business?" he asked gruffly. I nearly laughed at how stereotypical this scene was, almost like something from a film.

"It's Mint. Requesting permission to speak with Shirogane," the girl said confidently. She didn't flinch, even as the man loomed over her threateningly. I was quietly jealous of her bravery. Perhaps not her name, though – I'd never heard of someone calling their child Mint before. I suppose it's an Italian thing.

The guard frowned for a moment, then escorted us towards the door which I supposed led to Shirogane's office. He rapped on the door and opened it for us, and I followed Mint inside.

When we got inside the room, the only item of interest was a large desk with paper spread on it and a wide window with a view of the city. I sighed in relief – it was nice to actually see the sky again, even if it was the grey and polluted sky of a crowded city. I realised that during the adventure with Mint, I'd forgotten that we were actually in Tokyo!

Then I noticed the office chair facing away from us. Suddenly it spun around, revealing a blonde man with bright blue eyes and a serious expression. He had tan skin and was dressed casually (considering the setting) in a black t-shirt. This must be Shirogane! I actually thought he was quite cute, even though he looked a fair bit older than Mint and I, maybe in his twenties. _Although he's not as cute as Andrew, _I loyally insisted to myself.

"I've always wanted to do that," he suddenly chuckled.

"Do what?" Mint asked.

"Dramatically spin around in a chair when someone enters the room, of course," he said, as if it were obvious. Mint rolled her eyes but I couldn't help but giggle. Shirogane's eyes flicked to mine. "So this is the newbie, huh? Keiichiro said she was a feisty one."

"Keiichiro..?"

"Dr. Akasaka," he explained. "Did he – no, of course he didn't explain everything. Apparently you were going to jump out a window so he had to knock you out. You must be even stupider than you look."

"Excuse me!?" I snapped angrily. Who the hell does this guy think he is?

"He has a terrible sense of humour," Mint whispered.

"Anyway, I bet you're desperate to hear everything about the MEW Project, right? Oh Mint, you've heard this all before, so you're dismissed." She nodded and turned to go. I wanted to reach out and grab her cloak to make her stay with me – she wasn't a friend, but she was the closest I had in this madhouse. She gave me a slightly disdainful yet pitying look before turning and exiting with a sweep of her cloak.

"What's going on?" I asked him directly.

"Take a seat and I'll explain it all," Shirogane said.


	4. Information

_A.N: Sassy Ichigo is having none of your shenanigans, Shirogane. Huzzah for making friends through talking about your fandoms!_

_Biggest of thanks to the lovely MugetsuPipefox for reviewing not one but all of my chapters so far! And also to kisshuismylife and Mew Emzie :3 _

* * *

I hesistantly took the seat facing Shirogane. His eyes were locked on mine the whole time. I felt unnerved – it was like he was watching my every movement in the same way he'd assess an opponent in a battle.

"Where to start," he sighed thoughtfully, finally looking away.

"Tell me what the MEW Project is," I suggested. I was curious about everything, but that seemed like the most basic thing to ask.

He smiled proudly. "The MEW Project is my own creation. Well, with help from Keiichiro. MEW stands for Medically Engineered Weapon. Basically, together we developed a process which increased a subject's strength, speed, and so on. You know, with a combination of surgery, drugs and the like. But it only works on people with a certain combination of DNA, so we can only use participants whose DNA fits the blueprints.

"That's where you, Mint, and a handful of other people come in, of course. You're the ones who have the DNA for it. There are currently five of you–"

"Only five?" I interrupted.

"It's not _just _the DNA we test you on," he scoffed. "The DNA is rare enough, but considering we have to find people young enough to keep growing but old enough to be considered adults with a relatively high level of fitness and intelligence… Although it looks like they made a mistake with you."

"You're an asshole," I pointed out. "The only reason I'm not punching you in the face is because you've got the information I want. Also there are security guards."

"Hmph, maybe you're not that dumb then. Tell me, why have you dyed your hair pink if you're not an idiot?"

"That's none of your business, jerk! Why don't _you_ tell _me_ why you need these 'Medically Engineered Weapons' in the first place?"

He nodded approvingly. "Straight to the point, then. Well if you're so _smart_ I'm sure you're aware of all the horrible things going on in the world lately. Mass shootings, tame animals going wild, natural disasters, global warming… None of it's a coincidence.

"Earth has enemies. We don't know where they came from, or frankly, what they want, but the ones responsible for this are the Aliens. They uses beasts called Chimeras to wreak havoc on densely populated areas and it seems all they are aiming for is to kill as many humans as possible."

"Have you called the Doctor in?" I chuckled. This is surely some hilarious prank. Nice one, Shirogane, if that's even your _real_ name!

"If the TARDIS shows up, I'll let you know," he smirked. "Until a Time Lord decides to pop in for a visit, you and the other MEWs are our best hope."

I was too shocked by his serious tone to even appreciate the fact that he understood my Doctor Who reference.

"So – wait – you're not joking? You're going to make me fight Aliens with no training? Well, you know, after you manipulate my genes or whatever and turn me into some sort of freak?" I was freaked out and starting to babble on. "Do you realise I'm an eighteen year old who can barely cross the road without getting run over? Sure I can throw a good punch, but what the hell is that going to do against a monster that could kill me and who knows how many other people?!"

"Freaks? No. Just like humans, only stronger, more powerful. Once the MEW procedure is complete not even an Alien could stand against a MEW, so you have nothing to worry about. And if you do the job well, neither will the people who you're protecting."

"This is _so_ illegal," I muttered. "You've kidnapped me. What the hell's my family going to think?"

Shirogane grinned slyly. I was getting sick of that expression of his – that smile that just radiated smugness and arrogance and a host of other things that only increased my desire to slap him. "Kidnap? I would _never!_ As far as your family knows, you've accepted a scholarship to Tokyo University and have had to move immediately."

"And when does this _scholarship_ end?"

"When the Alien's lives do," he said darkly.

"Great. Fine. Fantastic. Bring one here and I'll push it out the window!"

He could tell I was starting to feel slightly hysterical because his face showed a hint of worry. He acted all cool, but his face was too easy to read. Upturned eyebrows, slightly pursed lips, like an open book of emotion. I guess right now my face would look the same.

"I think that's enough explaining for one day. If you have any other questions later, ask me at any time, but for now I'll introduce you to your teammates."

"Okay," I agreed shakily.

"Oh yes, before that, your codename. Don't tell anyone your real name, not even me. Do you have a preference?"

"Um, if you let me choose, I'd take about a week."

"Ichigo it is. You're pink like a strawberry." I nodded in agreement. A new name, new country and a whole new life… It was too much to handle. I felt my heart begin to race and hear it pounding in my ears.

I inhaled deeply. I could feel the panic rising in my chest. _Think about it later_, I told myself sternly as I pushed all the new information to the back of my mind. _There are more immediate worries, like social interaction, now. _Shirogane waited a moment for me to calm down, then stood up and strode confidently to the door. I followed him and we headed back through the room with the guards and to the elevator.

We travelled to level 4 in awkward silence. I didn't know what to say to him – this man had just told me I'm going to become a biological weapon to fight extra-terrestrial beings who are already responsible for murdering humans. And called me stupid multiple times.

Then again, even if he hadn't, I still wouldn't know what to say to him.

We arrived at the 4th floor and stepped out. "This is the recreational floor," he explained, "and it has a gym and a pool, a library, an art studio and a movie viewing room. They call it a cinema, but it's way too small."

"Swanky," I whistled. It reminded me of a posh hotel more than anything. Nonetheless, I couldn't wait to investigate and make full use of all the facilities. The prospect of going swimming or reading a good book made the near future seem so much less unpleasant. "Who gets to use this floor?"

"MEW-exclusive. Oh, and me of course, since it's my building. Lettuce will be in the library, I'll introduce you to her first, since you've already met Mint."

_His building?_ I thought in surprise. _He must be loaded if he owns a ten-storey building in Tokyo. Maybe that explains why he's such an asshole. _

The library was behind a set of heavy wooden doors which looked out of place in the modern building. However, once we entered the library, they fit perfectly. The room looked like something out of a storybook, with dark mahogany furnishings and large windows which stretched from floor to ceiling. And best of all, the walls were lined with books!

Sitting at one of the tables in the centre of the library was a girl with a mess of long wavy blonde hair and wide blue eyes staring out from behind huge round-rimmed glasses. Her eyes focused intensely on the book which she clutched with delicate hands.

Shirogane cleared his throat conspicuously. The girl – Lettuce, I realised – glanced up in surprise. Although her curvy figure suggested she was at least my age, her face with big eyes and a small nose gave her the look of an innocent young maiden. I nearly groaned with despair. First the stunning Mint, and now even a girl with a name like Lettuce was gorgeous too? This is _so_ unfair.

"Hello, Lettuce," Shirogane nodded politely. _Oh, playing favourites, are you?_ I thought somewhat bitterly. "This is Ichigo, she's the new recruit. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to dump her on you and run, I'm incredibly late for a meeting."

He turned and left without even saying goodbye to me. How rude. Then again, I suppose he did make himself late to explain everything to me… I looked back to Lettuce and smiled awkwardly.

"Hi, I'm Ichigo… Apparently… Did he pick your name as well?"

"Yes," she nodded. She had a soft voice with an English accent which matched her girlish appearance. "I think that, perhaps, I should have chosen my own name…"

"Yeah, maybe," I chuckled. "He acts like he's so smart but clearly he has an unhealthy obsession with food." Lettuce laughed. She laughed at my lame joke, I liked her already. I decided to be bold and make a new friend.

I sat down beside her and twiddled my thumbs for a moment. I hate small talk, but that's how you make friends, apparently.

"Uh, what are you reading?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

She blushed slightly. "Um, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," she admitted, as if she were embarrassed.

"Really?" I grinned. "Do you like Harry Potter? It's one of my favourite series ever! Hey, have you read The Hunger Games?"

Lettuce nodded and smiled. She seemed more relaxed already. "Who's your favourite character?" she asked.

"Finnick, _dang!_ Ugh, the end of Mockingjay damaged my emotions permanently," I sighed. Lettuce chuckled, and with that, I knew we were going to become friends.

Lettuce and I sat together in the library discussing all of our favourite books, TV shows, movies and anime, discovering that we had a lot of interests in common. It was the most relaxed I'd felt since I'd woken up here and while talking about normal, everyday things, I almost managed to forget the situation that I was in.


	5. Meeting

_A.N: Is it weird for me to thank my fabulous reviewers at the start of each chapter? Well, even if it is, cheers to MugetsuPipefox, kisshuismylife and Nikaru12 :3 Somehow seeing reviews makes writing a new chapter even more exciting! _

_Note on honorifics: since this is primarily in English only Pudding uses 'onee-chan' for the other Mew girls. Oh, and of course, Mint's 'onee-sama' for Zakuro, because that's super cute._

* * *

Eventually, the conversation between Lettuce and I drifted to a close and so I explored the library while she finished her book. The books inside ranged from old, dusty tomes to modern fantasy novels, and there was even a small collection of manga. I was about to start reading 'Shingeki no Kyojin' when I heard the large doors opened again. I was behind a bookshelf and couldn't see who it was. I hoped it wasn't Shirogane again.

"Hello, Pudding," I heard Lettuce call out.

"Lettuce onee-chan!" replied a high, energetic voice. _Onee-chan – of course, that means older sister. I guess these two must be close, _I thought. I stepped out from behind the bookshelf to see the new arrival. I guessed from her food name that she was another potential MEW.

The girl I saw defied any expectations I had. I knew she had to be a similar age to the rest of us like Shirogane had said, but she appeared much younger. She was very short and slender, although the muscles in her limbs were clearly defined. She appeared to be of Asian descent and had mischievous brown eyes and a wide grin. However, her hair and eyebrows had been dyed blonde – well, more like bright yellow. Unlike the other girls I'd met, who had been dressed in dark and modest clothing, Pudding was wearing a bright red playsuit.

Her colourful appearance seemed out of place in the fancy library, but I liked her upon sight.

"Hi," I said cheerfully.

"Ooh, who's this?" she asked, running over to me. She bounced around me in a circle and I swear I heard her sniffing at me. Then she stopped and stood directly in front of me, smiling. She barely came up to my chest. "Hello, new onee-chan! I like you. What's your name?"

She seemed… Quirky. I laughed awkwardly – I wasn't used to having my personal space invaded like this. "I'm Ichigo, nice to meet you. Are you Pudding?" I greeted her in a polite tone.

"That's me! How long have you been here? Usually Shirogane introduces everyone straight away! You know, I was the second one here, but Zakuro's so quiet that I felt lonely! But now I have more onee-chan-tachi to play with! What games do you like?" The words flew out of the short girl's mouth at a rapid pace. Even I, the master of speed-talking, struggled to keep up. This girl reminded me of a squirrel drinking coffee.

"Video games…" I answered, even though I figured that's not the type of game she meant.

"Boring! Can you play jan-ken-pon?"

I knew from Japanese class that jan-ken-pon was the Japanese equivalent of rock paper scissors. I failed to see how that could possibly be any more interesting than video games…

"Yeah, I can." Before I knew it, Pudding grabbed my wrist and starting shaking it.

"JAN! KEN! PON!" she shouted. I made my hand into scissors and Pudding made a fist.

"Damn," I cursed at the loss. Pudding cackled ominously. What had I gotten myself into?

"And now, for the punishment game!" she declared.

"Ichigo, you might want to run for it," Lettuce warned me. I glanced over at her, expecting her to be joking, but her face was gravely serious. I looked back to Pudding, who appeared to have pulled a maid outfit from somewhere and was slowly creeping up on me.

"You'll never take me alive!" I shouted, sprinting away. I weaved between the bookshelves trying to throw her off me tail. She followed me, laughing crazily, and slowly catching up. I joined in with the laughter and soon both of us were giggling hysterically. Pudding was insanely fast, and since I was laughing and couldn't catch a breath, she quickly pounced on me. "No!" I protested.

Five minutes later, I walked out from behind the bookshelf wearing a frilly black and white maid outfit. How did that even happen…

To my immense embarrassment, another girl was standing beside Lettuce, eying Pudding and I disdainfully.

"You're noisy," she said. Her voice was low and commanding, yet strangely sounded somewhat musical all at once. In fact, as I looked at her, I realised that would also be an apt description for her appearance. She was even taller than me – she could have easily passed for a model. Her hair was long, black and silky, her skin was pale, and her eyes were large and blue. Although, this girl also appeared Asian, so I supposed that she was wearing contacts.

The corners of her lips were curved down and her eyes were lidded heavily. Combined with the confident way she carried herself, she emitted an aura of authority. I immediately felt extremely childish in her presence; especially considering I was in a maid outfit and she was dressed elegantly in well-tailored pants and a simple but pretty blouse.

"Uh, Zakuro, this is our new member Ichigo," Lettuce smiled awkwardly. I could tell she too felt the impact of Zakuro's powerful aura.

"Hm," Zakuro sniffed. She looked me up and down, expressionless. Then her lips curved upwards into a slight smile. "Hello, Ichigo. I'm Zakuro." I heaved a sigh of relief. She seems intimidating but hopefully we'll be friends soon.

"Hi," I smiled. I wasn't sure whether or not I should shake her hand or something.

At that moment, Mint burst through the library doors. "Hey! Are you having a meeting without m-" She seemed to freeze when she saw Zakuro. "Onee-sama!" she cried, rushing to Zakuro and practically tackling her into a hug. Zakuro awkwardly petted the cloak which was covering Mint's hair and disentangled herself from the embrace.

"Now everyone's here!" Pudding exclaimed excitedly. Lettuce put her book away and stood up to join us. The five of us stood in a circle, not really knowing what to say.

"It's nice to meet you all," I smiled in an attempt to break the awkward silence. "I was worried there was going to be a bunch of creeps, but you all seem pretty cool!"

"Of course," Mint sniggered.

"Likewise," Lettuce beamed.

"Friends!" Pudding exclaimed.

Zakuro allowed herself a small smile and nodded.

"Still, it seems strange that they're only recruiting people a week before D-day. I wonder why?" Mint wondered aloud.

"D-day?" I repeated nervously.

"The day when the MEW Project really starts," Lettuce explained. "It's six days until we all undergo the operations that will transform us."

"When you say transform–" I began.

"We'll be special!" Pudding interrupted excitedly. "Super strong, super fast, cute ears!"

"Ears…?" I muttered. I had the feeling that nobody was listening to me anymore.

"I'm not so sure about the ears," Mint sighed.

"Mint, I think it would look cute on you," Zakuro said. Mint flushed bright pink and hid her face in her hands like a small child.

"WHAT EARS?" I shouted.

Lettuce looked over to me in surprise. "Shirogane didn't tell you? Part of the operation involves enhancing our senses. Most of that means adapting pre-existing features, but some human features aren't compatible, like the ears."

"We'll be kitties!" Pudding shouted.

"What about noses?" I asked in horror. Were they just going to remove my head and stick a cat's one on instead?

"Only the internal structure. As for eyes, they shall remain primarily human, however the capacity of the pupil to change is increased."

"Simply, our pupils will be able to get bigger and smaller than they can now," Mint translated condescendingly.

"I figured that out," I muttered. She and Shirogane must be in league to make me feel like a complete idiot. I glared at her and she smirked in return.

"And we get _claws_," Pudding grinned, making her hands into claws and pretending to scratch me.

"That's horrifying," I whined. Shirogane told me that we weren't going to be freaks! I guess I can see how the eyes and claws could come in useful, but _cat ears_? I mean, looking like an anime character would be really cool, but I couldn't go back to my family looking like that. Or, out in public, unless I had a cloak like Mint's – _holy crap that's why she has a cloak. For when we get weird ears._ "Surely that is _not_ the most logical way to deal with crappy hearing. What about hearing aids or something?" I suggested.

"I think you're forgetting a key thing here," Zakuro mentioned. "Look at the five of us." I did so. I mean, I already knew everyone now, what was I looking for? A common trait? Well, we were all female, about the age of 18, but we all looked very different and came from different places.

"Shirogane is a creep," Mint explained. "See, the DNA gene we all possess is rare, but with a population of 6 billion worldwide… What are the odds that the _only_ people who have it are young, attractive girls?"

"_Oh,_" I realised.

"Who cares? Kitty ears!" Pudding beamed.

"I guess the idea doesn't seem quite as bad as long as it'll be all five of us," Lettuce said hopefully.

"We'll be weird together," I laughed. "You're right, Lettuce. We'll kick some butt together! Ears or no ears!"

"I like her," Pudding grinned.

"You're all talk," Mint said. I wasn't sure whether she was being funny or mean. Her eyes flickered over to Zakuro's, who nodded. I suddenly got a bad feeling.

"But can you actually 'kick butt'?" Zakuro asked.

"_Oh, I get it_," Pudding stage-whispered, catching on to whatever they were planning.

"What?" I asked warily.

"Time to see what she can do!" Mint announced cheerfully.

"To the gym!" Pudding giggled.

"_Oh no_," I groaned.

* * *

_A.N: All the girls are together! Soon we can start some of the good stuff. But for now, Ichigo, watch out…_


	6. Preparation

I found myself standing in the gym surrounded by the other girls, whose faces ranged from slightly concerned to malicious grins.

"I can't do anything in a stupid frilly dress like this," I pointed out.

"There are spare exercise clothes in the locker room," Zakuro informed me. I nodded and went to get changed. Oddly enough, I was feeling queasy with nerves. I mean, I'd _thought_ that everyone seemed pretty nice, but after they'd seen my efforts in a gym, they'd probably never want to speak to me again. Although I have my moments of skill, most of the time I struggle not to injure myself while exercising.

I sighed loudly and changed into a spare singlet and pair of shorts which I found lying around. All of the shoes there must belong to the other girls, and none of them would fit my feet, so I returned to the main area of the gym in bare feet.

"She doesn't look that fit," Mint commented. I scowled at her.

"She looks healthy to me," Lettuce disagreed. I decided that I liked her even more and flashed her a thankful grin.

"Ichigo, what are you good at?" Zakuro asked.

"Um," I mumbled. "I suppose I have decent balance and I can kick things."

"Let's see!" Pudding exclaimed excitedly. She dragged me over to a balance beam and helped me up.

"Easy," I scoffed, making my way across with ease.

"Do it backwards!" Pudding told me. I'd done this before in P.E., so I confidently stepped backwards and make it across without wobbling.

"See, good balance!" I insisted, hoping she wouldn't ask me to go across on my hands or anything.

"Eyes closed!" she shouted. I sighed and closed my eyes. It was simply a matter of feeling for the beam with my feet before putting my weight down. It was more difficult than going backwards, but I still managed it without slipping.

"Satisfied?"

"One-legged!"

"Holy crap," I muttered to myself. I made sure my balance was perfect and then attempted the challenge. I had nearly made it to the end when my foot slipped slightly as I jumped. I sprung to the side and landed lightly on my feet.

"That's enough of that." I looked over at Zakuro when she spoke and realised she'd picked up… I'm not even sure what it was. A padded shield was what it looked like. I figured it must be for martial arts, because next Zakuro walked over to me and told me to kick her.

"Kick you?" I repeated.

She nodded. I took a deep breath, then swung out at the padding. My foot thumped into it with a large amount of power and I smirked with satisfaction when I saw Zakuro wince as she absorbed the impact.

"Not bad," even Mint had to admit. "So that's the things you're good at… But more importantly, what are you _bad_ at?"

"Everything else," I moaned. "Isn't that enough?"

Mint grinned wickedly. "Of course not. On the treadmill you go!"

"No!" I protested. I hate running!

Luckily, I was saved. At that moment, Shirogane entered through the doors and gave us all a disbelieving stare.

"What the hell are you five doing?"

"Testing Ichigo!" Pudding exclaimed. "She can kick well."

"Good to know," Shirogane drawled sarcastically. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Oh no, how late is it?" Lettuce asked.

"Time for you to get your asses down to the prep room," Shirogane growled.

"Prep room?" Once again, I was confused. Everyone just keeps forgetting that I have no idea what's going on!

"I'll explain on the way," Lettuce offered. Shirogane nodded and I followed the four other girls past him and back to the elevators. We down to the first floor in relative silence – even Pudding decided to be quiet. The mood was now drastically different to the cheerful atmosphere of before.

"What do we 'prep' for in the prep room?" I asked.

"Training missions. Since you're new, they'll probably give us an easy one for tonight," Mint said. Once again, she made it sound like she was explaining a very simple concept to a dull child. The elevator stopped and we arrived in a large, empty room with steel plating on the walls. I couldn't see any doors leading outside.

"So… Wait… Are we going to fight those monsters that Shirogane told me about? The, um, chi…"

"Chimeras," Zakuro finished for me.

"Bingo!" Pudding beamed. "Since we don't have any special abilities yet, we're only allowed to fight small ones if we take a lot of weaponry. Shirogane says the best training is in a real life situation! I'm excited!"

"I'll hang back," I said nervously. I wasn't ready to go fight monsters. I'd only woken up from being kidnapped and discovered that I was in a completely new country this morning. Now it was late afternoon and I have to go fight things that kill people already?

Lettuce seemed to catch on to how I was feeling. She stood beside me and put a reassuring hand on my arm. "Don't worry," she said softly, "we're still new to this, too. The Chimera won't be a dangerous one – maybe a small river dwelling one, nothing capable of natural disasters." I nodded, trying to take her words to heart, but I still wasn't ready.

The girls led me to a smaller side room. I entered first and nearly stood still. The walls were lined with all sorts of weapons, ranging from modern things like shiny knives and confusing looking contraptions to old weapons like a mace and a bow and arrow. There was a conspicuous lack of guns.

"Are you kidding me?" I said, absolutely stunned.

"Hang on, put your gear on before you go grabbing weapons," Mint said. She herself walked to the wall and picked up the bow. I didn't know the first thing about weapons, but the sleek black wood made it look classy.

"Where's your gear?" I retorted.

"I'm wearing it," she smirked. She undid the clasp at the throat of the cloak she was wearing and dropped it to the floor. I realised I hadn't seen her hair before this moment – it was a rich chestnut brown, worn in two buns on either side of her head. But what was more eye-catching was the outfit she was wearing underneath.

Mint looked like she was about to go jump on her pony and play polo. She was wearing a pale blue, short-sleeved shirt on, a pair of black pants, and knee-high black leather boots. She pulled on some arm protector type things which were beside the bow.

I turned to see what everyone else had changed into. The pants and boots were the same for everyone, but they were all wearing different shirts. Lettuce had a lightweight green sweater on, Pudding had donned a baggy yellow t-shirt, and Zakuro was wearing a purple crop top which exposed her midriff.

"That's slightly anti-climatic," I mumbled. Aside from the cloak and boots, the clothing looked like something you'd see in any old shopping centre.

"Don't worry, this is just training gear," Lettuce smiled. "Apparently, once the MEW procedure is finished, we'll be given proper customised gear."

Pudding tossed me my own pair of pants, which I slipped on. I guess I'll be wearing this pink singlet out on the mission, then. I looked over the spare boots resting against the wall and selected a pair which fitted perfectly. The extra cloaks were folded neatly beside the boots and I grabbed the first one there.

By the time I'd done that, the other girls had already loaded up on weapons. Mint had selected arrows and placed them in a quiver which she slung across her back. Lettuce had picked up a huge assortment of knives and was hiding them all over herself. Her sleeves, boots and pants must have been full of them. Pudding went to grab a large sword, but Mint quickly stopped her and directed her to a section filled with small pointy things which looked like they were meant for throwing. The only ones I recognised were the shuriken which ninjas use. Zakuro herself was coiling a ferocious-looking whip around her left forearm.

What the hell am I going to use? The only weapons I've ever used are kitchen knives while (unsuccessfully, might I add) cooking. I had to admit that the scythe looked pretty cool and I was tempted to grab it, but I'd need far more training before I could use that effectively. In the end I settled for a pair of machetes so I could just slice up anything that got too close to me.

"Everyone ready?" Lettuce asked kindly, sounding like a worried older sister.

"Let's kick some ass!" Pudding whooped. We donned our cloaks and returned to the main area. To my surprise, Shirogane had a projector set up, beaming white light onto one of the bare walls.

"About time," he grumbled. "Alright ladies, here's tonight's Chimera." The screen suddenly showed a mutated monster prowling around a deserted alleyway. It looked like a gigantic stray dog – dark grey, almost black, shaggy fur, long yellowed claws, and glowing orange eyes.

"That's not a cute puppy," Pudding pouted.

Shirogane pointedly ignored her. "It's your run-of-the-mill Chimera, no special abilities to be wary of. It's only killed two people so far but you're still inexperienced, so be careful! Zakuro, for tonight's mission you're in charge of the phone." He tossed Zakuro a black cell phone, which she caught easily and tucked her pants pocket.

Shirogane pulled a remote out of his own pocket and pressed a button. Suddenly one of the panels in the wall of the room slid upwards to reveal a glass door. Outside, I could see an inconspicuous grey city street. Mint, Lettuce, Pudding and Zakuro headed outside. I went to follow them, but on my way out, Shirogane grabbed my shoulder.

"Ichigo," he murmured. "You especially take care, since this is your first mission. Don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. No dying, got it." I smiled bravely, despite the churning in my stomach, and chased after the others to catch up.

* * *

_A.N: Even though it's holidays (in Australia), I have to do practice exams since it's my final year of high school *weeps*~ All of our final exams are in a couple of weeks, so updates may start becoming a little haphazard. I'll do my best to keep up though! _

_Oh, also, their pre-MEW costumes are pretty lame. I'm going to design something super-cool for after the procedures when they're actually MEWs. If anyone has any ideas, please contribute! I may take them into consideration while I'm designing them._


	7. First Mission

_A.N: Oh yeah, finally some action in this chapter! Virtual cookies for MugetsuPipefox, kisshuismylife and RedHoodLover for reviewing 3 Anyway, who's excited for Halloween? I know it's a month away, but it's one of my favourite celebrations… Should I do a special chapter for it?_

* * *

I ran behind the other girls for what felt like forever. My throat was burning, chest heaving, and my legs were beginning to feel shaky. I knew I was starting to fall behind the others, and Lettuce took pity on me and dropped back to make sure I was okay. Of course, Zakuro was in the lead, and when she noticed that I'd slowed down she stopped to make sure I was okay.

Mint grumbled in annoyance. "Are you really going to let her slow everyone else down?" she asked haughtily. Usually her attitude would piss me off, but I knew she was right. I was a newbie holding everyone else back.

"She's right," I panted breathlessly. "You… go on… without me."

"Wow, usually that type of line is saved for the final battle!" Pudding laughed cheerfully. She seemed unaffected by the long run and jumped around excitedly.

"I'll catch up," I finished.

"The whole point of this is introducing you to the Chimeras," Zakuro said, "so if we leave you behind, then we've essentially failed."

"Well, that's true," Mint agreed. "And besides, by the time she caught up, we'd have killed it anyway."

"Shut up," I told her.

"Ooh, feisty!" she chuckled.

"No, seriously, shut up, I think I can hear something!" I told her. Everyone paused, even Pudding. Sure enough, there was a distant rumbling – no, actually, it sounded more like growling.

"I suppose it's found us instead," Lettuce sighed, grasping a knife in each hand and crouching into a battle-ready stance.

"Weapons out," instructed Zakuro, uncoiling her whip and taking a similar stance to Lettuce. I copied the two – strongest foot back, for balance, and arms raised ready to strike or defend. I vaguely remembered this from martial arts class as a kid. I prepared my machetes.

Gripping a weapon felt wrong. I knew I was about to fight a monster, but I'd only ever fought with my own body before, and somehow holding weapons made me feel like I was cheating. However, the other girls confidently held their weapons with determined gleams in their eyes. I wasn't going to let them down, even if this was my first mission.

"Over there!" Pudding exclaimed, pointing down a back alleyway. Sure enough, moments later the enormous dark-grey dog burst out from the shadows and ran, snarling, straight at Pudding.

Before I could even see what had happened, Pudding had tumbled out of the way and simultaneously launched one of her shuriken at it. The metal ninja star lodged into its right flank and caused it to hiss in pain. When it drew its lips back, flecks of spittle sprayed across us.

"Gross," I whispered to myself, wiping the drool onto my cloak.

"Aim for the eyes first," Zakuro shouted calmly. I backed out of the way as the other girls stood in front of it. Zakuro, the tallest of us, didn't even reach its shoulder. It was enormous.

Mint shot an arrow at its face and narrowly missed one of its bright orange eyes. The arrow instead tore through its ear and ripped a hole in it. The Chimera snapped furiously, darting closer to Mint to try and bite her. Lettuce took the opportunity and ran towards it. As it lowered its head to grab Mint in its jaws, Lettuce leaped over its snout and carved a bloody red line through one of its eyes. She landed safely on the other side and looped around so she stood behind it.

The Chimera blindly wheeled around trying to chase her. Mint darted away from its flailing paws. It turned its back on her to face Lettuce, and Mint shot an arrow through its paw. It howled in agony and turned back around. I almost felt sorry for it – outnumbered, outclassed, already bleeding from multiple wounds…

That is, of course, until the damn thing caught sight of me. I was standing directly across from it while the other girls weaved around it, searching for a weak point. It charged and I froze. This was _not_ part of the plan.

"Ichigo, _move_!" Mint shouted.

It was coming straight at me. I did the first thing I could think of and ducked under its snapping jaws. I remembered the machetes gripped in my hands and lashed out at its front paw as I ran beneath its torso. I felt the blade slice through flesh. I shuddered and quickly pulled the blade out. Blood spurted out of the wound and splattered across my cloak.

"Get out from under it!" Mint warned. I did as she said and escaped from beneath it. The Chimera's front half fell onto the concrete – it could no longer stand properly after what I'd done to its paw. Pudding took the chance to leap up onto it's back and embed a variety of sharp weapons along its spine.

"Now it can't move!" she called out. Zakuro nodded and stepped towards the beast. She drew her arm back and then the whip flashed as it snapped outwards and coiled around the beast's neck in a loop. She pulled her arm back, tightening it, and the monster let out a final whine of despair as it choked to death. I had to look away.

"Done," she said unemotionally. She had been doing this the longest of all of us and seemed completely unaffected.

"I hate the last part," Lettuce said softly. She walked back over to it and pulled out the knife that was embedded in its head. Pudding tore all of her shuriken from its back, wiped them on her cloak, and slipped them back to where she'd been hiding them earlier.

"N-now what do we do?" I asked shakily. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and made me forget that I'd ever been tired. Instead, I felt on edge and nervous, like I could break at any moment.

"Call Shirogane," Mint told me. Zakuro had already whipped the phone from her pocket and dialled. She spoke quietly so that I couldn't catch any of the conversation.

"Is anyone injured?" Lettuce asked.

"I don't know about injured, but I could really use a bath," I moaned. The Chimera's blood was starting to dry and strangely it actually stung my skin.

"Oh, Ichigo, come here," Lettuce called. I walked over to her and she pulled some baby wipes out of nowhere and started cleaning the blood off my skin. "You have to be careful with Chimera blood. It won't cause permanent damage, but it can sting and leave a mark for a few days!"

"Well that sucks," I grumbled. It occurred to me then why all of the girls were using either long-range or throwing weapons. There was a much lower chance of getting sprayed with blood like I had.

"Girls, come here for a moment," Zakuro suddenly said. The four of us stood around her. She pressed a button on the phone and suddenly we could hear Shirogane's voice. His voice actually sounded kind of nice when he wasn't being a jerk.

"Is everyone there?" he asked.

"Yeah," Zakuro nodded.

"Right. The Chimera's not showing up anymore – well done – but it's detecting another Alien life-form."

"What's detecting–" I began.

"Shh!" Mint hissed.

"Ah, Ichigo, always an idiot. This is simply a device which shows heat readings. Aliens have a much higher body temperature than humans," Shirogane explained through the phone. I hadn't realised he could hear me! "But this looks like something else," he continued, "something similar to the Chimeras, but not quite…"

"What should we do?" Lettuce inquired.

"For now, return to base. I haven't been able to catch it on video yet so it's not safe to engage."

"Roger that!" Pudding said.

"Do we have to run?" I asked anxiously.

"Not on the way back," Lettuce smiled. Zakuro closed the phone and put it back in her pocket.

"Right. Time for a bath!" Mint sighed happily. We left the corpse of the Chimera lying in the street and walked back in the direction which we'd came from.

"Who gets to clean that up?" I asked Lettuce quietly.

"Oh, I actually don't know," she mumbled. "I suppose they have a clean-up team?"

"Probably," I agreed. I was glad we didn't have to drag the gigantic body and dump it in a river somewhere. We walked back in relative silence after that. The serious mood was gone, but everyone was simply too tired to hold a coherent conversation.

Once again, I ended up lagging behind the others. I was daydreaming about everyone back at home. Does my family believe that rubbish about a scholarship in Tokyo? What were Mimi and Molly saying about my sudden disappearance? I bet they were mad I hadn't even bother to call them. What was Andrew thinking? Was he worried that I wasn't returning his morning texts anymore? Since I got kidnapped and might never see him again, are we even still dating!?

When I nearly tripped over a stick lying in a gutter I realised I'd fallen even further behind than I'd thought. I looked up and saw the girls turn a corner ahead of me. I was about to call out, when suddenly a hand cupped over my mouth and muffled my shout. I twisted around and escaped.

"What the fu–"

"Evening, kitten," came a strange voice. I looked at the person – no, this wasn't a person. It was definitely a 'he', but not a person. The thing had dark green hair, amber eyes, and pointed ears like an elf.

"Excuse me?" I snapped. "What the hell are you?"

"My name's Kish," he smiled, licking his lips.


	8. Alien

_A.N: *sobs of joy* You beautiful people reviewing my story! Konekokitticat11, WarriorLeila, kisshuismylife, RedHoodLover, MugetsuPipefox and NeneKenevra, I cannot thank you all enough for your lovely words of encouragement. _

_Anyway, I was designing some possible MEW outfits for later on, and Mum walked over and asked if I was drawing a cat-girl Katniss… I think that's a compliment!_

* * *

The boy with the dark green hair stood with an arrogant pose, one long, pale hand rested on his hip, and his chin raised, like he thought he was better than me.

"Kish?" I repeated. "Well, Kish, you can take your stupid name and piss right off to whatever stupid nightclub you came from!" His strange clothes did make it look like he'd come from a rave or something like that. He wore a dark baggy shirt which was too short and revealed some of his midriff, and matching pair of shorts with strange red things on his arms and black boots. Sort of like a Goth who'd gotten dressed in the dark and accidently dyed their hair green instead of black.

"What's a nightclub?" he asked curiously.

"Are you screwing with me?" I said in disbelief.

"No," he smirked, "but I'd like to." I growled and muttered a very rude word. This guy was some freak who was clearly off his face and trying to waste my time.

"Yeah, whatever. I've got places to be," I snapped. I didn't feel safe turning my back on him, but nonetheless I whirled around and tried to storm off after my friends. Of course, moments later I felt a hot hand grasp my shoulder and spin me around.

"But kitten, we've only just met," he pouted playfully.

"Shame... Why do you keep calling me that?"

"What?"

"_Kitten._"

"Your fighting style, maybe? You stand off to the side until you're in danger then lash out with your claws," he grinned. His wide smile revealed pointed teeth that eerily reminded me of a vampire's fangs.

I was speechless. What he said was right on the mark – I'd stayed out of danger and let the girls fight until I was under direct attack. I'd have to train and get better and fighting so that doesn't happen anymore. Moreover, what he'd said was incredibly frustrating, because I didn't have a comeback for it. I growled angrily again and ran off. I heard his footsteps chasing after me, almost inhumanly fast.

"Oi! Quit running off," he shouted. His voice was right behind me. I sidestepped quickly and allowed him to careen forwards. He recovered his balance and turned to shoot me a fierce glare with his amber eyes. "Hm, not bad. You've got quite a lot of fight in you, huh?"

He leaned forward until he was uncomfortably close and I could feel his body heat radiating towards me. His face was right in front of mine and suddenly I realised – he was trying to _kiss_ me! I hissed and grabbed his face in my hand. His skin was too hot to be human. I shoved him aside and hastily retracted my hand.

"No thanks, buddy. I have a boyfriend, you know!"

"Oh, really?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested. "Tell me, where does he live?"

"None of your business, freak," I spat. I started backing away slowly, but he matched my every step.

"Ichigo-oneechan!" a female voice called out. I turned and saw Pudding speeding towards me and heaved a sigh of relief. Kish's eyes narrowed when he saw the rest of the girls round the corner after Pudding.

"Outnumbered," he grumbled. "I'll come and play with you again, kitten. You owe me a kiss!" He quickly vanished down a side-street and seemed to dissolve into the shadows. I shuddered. Dirty perverted freak! If I see him again in this _lifetime_ it'll be too soon for me.

The girls arrived by my side. Lettuce anxiously checked me over to make sure I was okay.

"What the hell was that?" Mint said, sounding disgusted.

"I think that was the thing Ryou warned us about," Zakuro mentioned. She looked over at me. "Ryou is Shirogane's first name, by the way. Anyway, you seem to be okay. Did he try and fight you?"

"Ugh, I wish. He tried to _kiss_ me!" I hissed.

"Ooh, Ichigo's got a secret admirer already," Pudding giggled.

"That's not 'admiration', that's sexual assault," I sighed. "Sorry for the hold up. I should have just machete'd him, but he looked too human. I didn't even realise he was a – Chimera? Is that what he was?"

"Not quite. Alien would probably be more accurate," Lettuce said thoughtfully.

"Next time I'll stick one of these through his freaky ears," Mint warned, waving one of her arrows about. "Ichigo, you should've chopped his dirty lips off! After all, you've held up my bath now. I hope you're pleased with yourself." I smiled to myself – it was almost like Mint was showing that she actually cared, even if she was doing it in her own strange manner.

Funnily enough, after you kill a monster together, you automatically become friends. On the way back to that weird building – what's it even called? MEW HQ? That would be hilarious – we somehow ended up discussing Alien fashion choices.

By the time we made it back to MEW HQ the only lighting was the street lamps. I'd completely forgotten that we were in Tokyo while we were fighting. Now, I could easily tell from the lack of stars in the sky. The sky wasn't black, or even dark blue, but a somewhat sickly grey-orange colour. The one thing I hated about cities was the lack of nature – no stars, not enough plants, pollution… Visits were fine, but I wasn't sure how I'd survive living in the city. I'd lived in a green, tree-filled area my whole life, only a short drive away from the ocean!

The ten-storey building appeared before us. It was undoubtedly tall, but dwarfed by some of the enormous skyscrapers surrounding it. Once we stood in front of the panel which served as a door, it opened from the inside and we stepped in.

Shirogane was waiting for us. He actually _smiled_ when he saw us. Not a smirk, not a condescending grin, but a genuine smile!

"Job well done, girls. Go clean yourselves up and meet back here for the debriefing," he told us, sounding far kinder than usual. Maybe he _does_ have a shred of a conscious after all. At least, enough to feel sorry for us after he sent us out after a monster which could have killed us. The girls and I stepped into the elevator and Zakuro took us up to level six.

"This is where all of our daily living things are," Lettuce explained. "Apartments – with ensuites – as well as a small kitchen, laundry, and a shared bathing area. The rooms all have a double bed and a desk and are surprisingly big."

I whistled, impressed. Out of all the levels, this one seemed the most… comforting, I suppose. Thick white carpet under our feet, cream walls and artwork around the walls graced this floor.

"Bathtime!" Pudding giggled. "Ichigo-oneechan, come into the shared one with us, it's more fun that way." We walked through the lounge room to the laundry, which had a door leading to the bathing area.

It looked more like a spa to me. At first, we were in a small changing room with towels and pegs for hanging clothes on, but a tiled area with a bath that looked more like an indoor pool was visible through the doorway. The other girls all stripped off, leaving their dirty battle gear on the floor, grabbed a towel, and jumped into the bath.

"We have to be naked?" I grimaced quietly. Still, I wasn't going to be that one person who made it weird. I mentally braced myself, then copied the other girls. I wrapped the towel around myself and headed straight for the main bath.

"Ichigo, you're meant to rinse off first," Mint huffed. I noticed showers lining the walls and I nearly face-palmed. Of course, I should have known that, I've only been studying Japanese culture for six years already… I washed the last flecks of blood, Chimera spit and Alien cooties off me then slipped into the hot bath water.

The hot water was reinvigorating. At first, I felt too awkward to speak, but the other girls chatted freely as they relaxed so I soon found myself drawn into the conversation. Soon I was so engaged in talking that I forgot we were in a bath and all my initial awkwardness seemed to melt away into the water. I was actually disappointed when Zakuro suggested that we should probably get out and go downstairs for the debriefing.

We dried off and moved back into the changing area. We moved our dirty clothes into the laundry area. It looked like there was a roster, and luckily my name hadn't been added onto it yet. Poor Lettuce was stuck with washing the bundles of dirty clothes.

"Hey, I just realised that I have absolutely no clothes," I announced. Not even underwear – my only pair was now in the washing machine.

"You'll have to borrow some clothes for now," Mint suggested.

"Is that an offer?" I beamed. I followed Mint to her room and she tossed a pair of frilly blue panties and a matching night-dress at me. "Thanks so much, Mint!"

"I don't have any bras that will fit you," she responded. Casually brushing off my thanks, of course. And besides, it was true – Mint definitely had a flatter chest than me.

I pulled on the clothes she'd lent me. The dress seemed to fit pretty well, despite our difference in height and body shapes. I went to wait out in the living room and dried my hair thoroughly while the others got changed. Everyone emerged in varying levels of dress. Mint had a cute, white and lacy pyjama set on, Zakuro was wearing silk boxers and a band t-shirt, Pudding had donned a singlet and pyjama pants with bananas printed on them, and Lettuce was wearing a big, baggy Doctor Who t-shirt with leggings.

We praised each other's choice in pyjamas then returned to the first floor. Shirogane was waiting, sipping on a mug of coffee.

"Took your time," he muttered to himself. He flipped the projector on, and suddenly we were watching footage of ourselves fighting the Chimera. I felt almost sad seeing it while it was still alive. "Zakuro, you did an excellent job of leading. Focussing the entire team on a single task proved to be effective in this situation. Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, brilliant job on disabling it – dodging attacks and attacking in the gaps is a good way to go. Now… Ichigo…" He looked at me seriously. "You're going to need training. Allowing the Chimera to get that close to you is dangerous. Usually it's people's first instinct to get out of the way of a giant dog thing, but no, you just stand there."

"Well excuse me for not having any training," I said sarcastically.

"No, you can't try and be sassy while wearing something as ridiculous as that," he chuckled.

"I don't have any of my own clothes! You kidnapped me while I was in school uniform!"

"Fine, we'll go shopping tomorrow then. Anything else?" Shirogane finished. Everyone shook their heads – it had been a fair critique of the battle. "Okay, then, dismissed!"

"Guys, did you hear that?" I grinned excitedly. "Shopping! In _Tokyo!_"


	9. Shopping

_A.N: Ugh, I finished my first exam yesterday! A Japanese oral exam! So, I had to speak in Japanese for 15 minutes with complete strangers… It was horrible n But it's all over now – for better or worse. So sorry for a slightly boring chapter, but soon the real MEW project will start ;D_

_Anyway, I'd like to give hi-fives to each and every one of you lovely people who took the time to review! Yes, that means you, RedHoodLover, kisshuismylife, MugetsuPipefox, TigerRates, QueenOfWeird1995 and SoulHikaru!_

* * *

Despite the new bed in a different room in a strange building, I slept surprisingly well. Well, when you consider the fact I helped kill a Chimera yesterday, maybe it wasn't such a surprise – I was still damn tired, even when I woke up.

I groaned and forced myself out of bed. Luckily, each room had its own bathroom attached, so I could run a brush through my hair and made sure I looked half decent before I went out to greet the girls. What sort of morning routine does everyone have? Sleep in, breakfast in the kitchen, have a chat before off to training? I hoped it wasn't get up early, train, then eat. In fact, not training at all would be awesome – I'd much rather eat than go for a run. Once again, I doubted Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka's ability to pick suitable candidates for their project.

Then I remembered the promise of shopping.

I charged out of my room and into the kitchen. Got to make food, quick. I opened the freezer, grabbed some bread, and began my search for the toaster. The kitchen was absurdly modern, and I didn't recognise any familiar devices. I opened and shut drawers looking for something I could put bread in. Even a microwave.

I soon heard footsteps and a tired groan. I glanced up and saw Mint standing in the entrance to the kitchen glaring daggers.

"What the _hell_ are you doing up so early?" she growled dangerously. I accidently took a nervous step back. It seems that Mint is not a morning person.

"Looking for the toaster," I responded innocently.

_"It's 5 in the morning!"_

"Ooh… Time zone differences?" I shrugged. I'd completely forgotten about the fact that my body clock was two hours earlier than everyone else's. She huffed in annoyance, stormed to a confusing looking stainless steel device, and slammed the bread into it. Then, she turned around and stomped back to her bedroom where I heard a door slam shut.

I stood in silence until my toast burst out of the toaster thing and gave me a (metaphorical) heart attack. I couldn't be bothered looking for peanut butter, so I ate it plain and helped myself to some milk from the fridge. Not the best breakfast.

Next, I set about finding something to wear. My school uniform was still somewhere down in the changing rooms of the gym and my battle gear was still damp in the laundry. I couldn't steal any clothes from the others since they were all asleep, either. Well, maybe I can wear this blue nightdress out if I put on some cute tights and shoes… I went into the laundry to see if there were any other clothes out to dry. I put my bra on and found a pair of indigo tights, then slipped my black boots on over the top. Not exactly the outfit I'd pictured when I thought about shopping in Tokyo, but it was better than nothing. I guess my pink hair will help me fit in, in a crazy place like Harajuku.

I wandered to the elevator and went down to the fourth floor so I could kill time in the library while I waited for everyone else to get up. I was browsing through the manga section when I heard the doors open and brisk footsteps, rather than the sleepy shuffle of someone who's just awoken. So, not one of the girls?

"Ichigo?" called a voice. It was Shirogane.

"What?" I replied, returning to the main section of the library. He was waiting for me impatiently, tapping his foot against the wooden floor.

"Are you ready to go yet?"

"What about–"

"Oh, come on," he sighed. He walked quickly out of the library and I struggled to keep up without resorting to jogging. By the time I caught up he was already in the elevator. I jumped in just before the doors closed and we went down to the ground floor. Once the doors opened again, Shirogane strode purposely through the large room and to the exit. I chased after him and we stopped outside. A sleek black car was waiting and Shirogane opened the door to the passenger seat for me.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, hesitating before I got in.

"No time," he said. "I'm sure you'll have fun."

"So you're letting me loose in Tokyo, an enormous foreign city, unsupervised, with no phone – or money, and I'm meant to be shopping?! I'm a legal adult in Australia, but not here!" To be honest, I was freaked out about exploring Tokyo by myself. It would be heaps of fun, but what if I got lost? Or, worse – ran into Kish again?

"Oh, my bad." He rummaged in his pockets and handed me a shiny iPhone and a plain wallet. "Now you're good. Call if you get into trouble, my number's set as a contact. The pin code for the card is ****. In you get!" He placed his hands on my hips and pushed me into the car.

"I–" Too late, he'd already closed the door. I looked to the driver and nearly had another panic attack. Sitting beside me was Dr. Akasaka. As in, creepy ponytail chloroform guy. I casually reached for the handle, prepared to tumble out onto the sidewalk, but it had been locked so I couldn't open it even from inside.

"Please, relax," he cautioned. The car had started to move so I obediently put on my seatbelt. I wanted to get away from him, but even I wasn't willing to jump out of a moving car. That's a few too many steps above a window.

"Ugh, so what do you want now? I'm already part of your stupid MEW project," I grumbled.

"I'm simply driving you to the main shopping district of Tokyo," he smiled blandly. "I work as a recruiter, but I'm also Shirogane's assistant. I'm afraid our introduction wasn't ideal. I hope you can forgive me for doing my job."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. His polite tone made me feel guilty for my attitude. "Anyway, when you say shopping district, you mean Harajuku, right?"

"If that's where you would like to go."

"Yes, please!"

The rest of the trip was in silence – I didn't particularly want to talk to him, and he wasn't going to force a conversation. Soon I began to see teenagers dressed in quirky clothing mixing amongst the men and women in business suits and I knew we were drawing closer. Dr. Akasaka stopped the car and gave me a brief set of instructions to get to the main road of Harajuku. I reluctantly thanked him, got out of the car, and tried to get my bearings.

I didn't even need his instructions – I spotted a girl in a baby pink Lolita dress with dyed chocolate brown hair and followed her.

Then, I saw the sign which stretched above the main road. It was weirdly familiar, since I'd seen it in photos and even animated in some anime so many times. Seeing it with my own two eyes was like a dream come true. I allowed myself a squeal of joy and a victory dance before I regained my composure and strolled down the street.

There were so many people and so many clothes shops that I had no idea where to start. I was tempted to go into a cosplay shop and just wear cosplay for the rest of my life, but I figured I should at least start with some basic items. I found an underwear shop and bought adorable pairs of undies for each day of the week – and then some – as well as a variety of socks from sporty to lacy and thigh-high. The shop assistant was eager to try out her limited English on me, although not having to use my own limited Japanese made the experience much easier.

I left the store with a bag full of undies and a big smile. This was fun! Usually shopping stressed me out, since I was always working with limited funds and limited self-control, but now neither was required. I strolled into a general chain store type shop and left with some plain coloured singlets, shorts and jeans.

Then, it was time for the fun stuff. I had the basics covered – in fact, I had enough basics that carrying them was making my arm tired. Still, I had to soldier on!

I wandered in and out of cute little boutiques, deciding what sort of fashion style I was going for and the average prices for different items of clothing. I spent an hour looking around without buying anything, but I couldn't just settle for one style which I liked. The sweet Lolita clothing was intensely adorable, but would take too much effort on a daily basis. I loved the punk style clothing, but some looked uncomfortable and I liked being cute some days, too. There was more traditional Western style clothing, but that was too boring on its own.

In the end, I gave up and just bought anything and everything which caught my eye. Frilly pink skirt? Check. Black leather jacket with silver studs? Check. Baggy shirt with amusing Engrish slogan? Check. I wasn't keeping track of the money I spent, but I'm sure I racked up a total worth hundreds of dollars.

Once I had bags and bags of clothes, I decided to stop in a café for a break. I wanted to go to a maid café, but I knew there would be plenty in Akihabara, so I settled for a cute café with old-fashioned furniture. I ordered a hot chocolate, which arrived in an adorable teacup, then went to the bathroom. There, I changed into one of the Lolita outfits which I'd bought. I'd only been able to find one pair of Lolita shoes which fit me, a baby pink pair with white trimmings, which I also slipped on.

Then, I wandered back out into the café in all my Lolita glory and picked up the rest of my shopping bags. I couldn't carry much more, and as much as I wanted to go to the cosplay shop, I decided to come back another time. Shirogane would probably kill me as it was, even without me buying expensive costumes…

I reluctantly unlocked the iPhone and dialled his number.

"Ichigo," he answered.

"I'm done," I said cheerfully.

"You do realise I can see bank records of how much you've spent," he said tonelessly.

"…Jolly good. Look, can you come pick me up, please?"

"I should make you walk… Lucky for you that Keiichiro's already on his way. Dr. Akasaka, that is. Try not to spend any more money on your way back to the car."

"Sorry!"

"No, you're not. I'll see you when you get back." It sounded like he was smiling – maybe I'm not in as much trouble as I thought I was. And besides, I'd lost my entire wardrobe because of him, which was probably worth far more than this!

I returned to the place where I'd been dropped off, only to find that the car was already waiting for me. I placed all my bags in the trunk and hopped in the passenger seat, to be greeted by a smiling Dr. Akasaka.

Maybe this whole thing isn't going to be as bad as I thought.


	10. Halloween

_A.N: __**I AM SO SORRY**__. I suck at updating lately. It's exam time over here in Australia and the rest of my life depends on the next few weeks… I've been studying for weeks. I have 2 exams on Friday, 1 on Monday, and then no more for another 2 weeks, so hopefully I can squeeze in some more writing then. It should become more regular after that. (Well… except for the 2 weeks when I'll be in Japan… Hm…)_

_Anyway, since it's nearly Halloween, here's the special as promised! So this is kind of breaking away from the main plot for a chapter, but oh well. There'll be more MEW goodness soon! Thanks once again to RedHoodLover, kisshuismylife, MugetsuPipefox and SilverMist01! And, of course, to all you lovely people who've faved and followed 3_

* * *

Over the next few days I began to settle into the routine of life at MEW HQ. I was still calling it that, because nobody had told me the building's real name yet. Between training in the mornings and missions in the evenings, I got to know the other girls. When you live with people you quickly begin to pick up on their habits, likes and dislikes. I knew the other MEWs better after a few days than I knew some of the girls at my old school after years.

However, I still wasn't prepared when I returned to the living area after some individual training to find black streamers, fake spider webs and pumpkins everywhere.

"What the hell?" I called out.

Pudding leapt out behind from the couch with a maniacal grin on her face. "Happy Halloween, Ichigo-oneechan," she squealed excitedly. Then, she tossed a fake spider at me. I hissed and smacked it across the room.

"Is that the date?" I asked. I'd been here even longer than I thought. With the routine, the week had seemed to pass in a blur. In fact, _tomorrow_ was the date when the five of us underwent the operation to become fully-fledged MEWs.

"Shirogane's letting us have a party!" Pudding announced.

"Oh, cool! Wait, I don't have a costume!" I realised, horrified. How unlike me!

"What did you buy when you went shopping, then?" Pudding inquired curiously.

"_Actual clothes!_"

"Huh. Well, that was silly. Now you have 2 hours before we all meet up in the library! It's going to be super spooky!" she cackled. Then she dashed away to the elevator and sprang inside. Lettuce stepped out and greeted me with a smile.

"Lettuce! Help! What are you going as for Pudding's party?" I said.

"I was thinking of being a weeping angel from Doctor Who, but that would be too hard in 2 hours," she sighed. "What do you think?"

"It would take longer than 2 hours," I agreed. "Hmm, how about Mami from Madoka Magica?" Lettuce certainly had the… ah… _assets _to pull it off.

"That would be cool," she agreed, "if I had the outfit."

"Luna from Harry Potter?"

"Actually, that could work," she pondered. She adopted a thoughtful expression and wandered off in the direction of her room. _You were meant to help me_, I whined to myself. Now I had to think of my own costume. I also escaped to my room and began tearing my cupboard apart. Luckily for me, with pink hair, I could easily dress as an anime character, but which one?

In the end, I decided to straighten my hair and get some little cat ears to be Lucy from Elfen Lied. Nothing says Halloween like a Diclonius (basically, a cat-girl thing with invisible arms called vectors who enjoys murdering people).

By the time I'd decided on what clothes to wear with it (a white singlet and green shorts similar to hers in an early episode), I only had half an hour to do my make-up and so I kept it simple and just did anime-style eyes, which involves lots of black eyeliner, mascara and a dab of white eye-shadow.

I bumped into Mint in the hallway on my way to the elevator. She was dressed as a fairy in a pretty, floaty baby pink dress and matching wings. With Mint's slender frame and elegance, she fit the part of fairy well. Her brown hair was curled into ringlets which bounced with every step she took.

"You look awesome," I smiled.

"Thanks. What the hell are you meant to be?"

"Lucy from Elfen Lied. Don't judge, I had 2 hours to pull this together!"

"You tried," she shrugged. I glared at her back as she led the way to the elevator and we went down to the fourth floor.

"I should warn you, Pudding decorated the library, and she doesn't understand the concept of _restraint_," Mint told me as we stepped out.

"That's fine. I like Halloween – I mean, costumes and free candy, what's not to love?" We opened the heavy doors and were greeted by an amazing sight. The library lights were switched off, and instead various flashing lights hung from bookshelves around the room. Glowsticks, those spinning ball things with rainbow lights, glow in the dark tombstones… Pudding had gone Halloween mad. Around the room, hanging decorations like cardboard skeletons and ghosts floated ominously, and even more fake spider webs stretched between the shelves.

"Ichigo-oneechan, Mint-oneechan!" Pudding shouted. Suddenly it was raining candy on top of my head. I grabbed as many as I could and shoved them in my shorts pockets. Mint's eye twitched in anger.

"Pudding!" she snapped. Pudding jumped down from the top of a bookshelf. It looked like she was trying to be a mummy, only she was a few bandages too short. In fact, it looked like she had covered up the necessary parts and then given up. I admired her confidence to walk around like that, but then I realised we'd all seen each other in the bath anyway so it didn't really matter.

Lettuce walked out to greet us in a Hogwarts uniform with a wand tucked behind her ear. "You guys all look so cool," she smiled.

"You too," Mint returned. I shot her another glare and she smirked back.

Then the doors opened as Zakuro entered. She looked stunning, dressed in a black corset and leather pants. She had adorned herself with wolf ears and a tail and, of course, flawless smokey-eye make-up. I wanted to sigh in jealously.

"I'm the big bad wolf," she explained, flashing us a rare grin.

"Onee-sama," Mint sighed. I almost expected her to get a blood nose, anime style.

"Everyone's here! _Dancing time!_" Pudding announced, racing over to an iPod dock. Suddenly, a dance song about vampires came on. Mint grabbed Zakuro's hand and dragged her over to the area which Pudding had cleared to use as a dance floor. The two immediately picked up on the rhythm of the song and began to move in perfect synchronisation. Pudding bounced after them and began jumping around enthusiastically.

Lettuce and I exchanged an uneasy glance. I thought dancing was fun but I always felt somewhat awkward with others around – especially people as talented as Mint and Zakuro, who's elegant movements made it clear that they had both received training at some point.

"Ah, why not," I sighed. Lettuce and I ran to the dance floor and joined in. Despite both of us initially feeling uncomfortable, soon we relaxed and allowed the beat of the tune to guide our movements. The five of us danced together in a circle, occasionally catching each other's eye and bursting out into peals of laughter. I lost count of the songs which passed that way, and I think we could've all continued that way if the door hadn't opened once more.

It was Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka, both in costume. Dr. Akasaka was dressed as a policeman, complete with handcuffs attached to his belt. But it was Shirogane's outfit that caused me to (metaphorically) piss myself laughing. He was dressed as Link from the Legend of Zelda games, hat and all.

"Happy Halloween to you, too," he muttered sullenly.

"Link!" I gasped between fits of giggles. I wasn't sure whether I was laughing because of his costume choice, or laughing at myself for the way my heart had skipped a beat when he walked in. Stereotypical or not, I thought Shirogane looked hot, and I couldn't help it.

"I bought some snacks," Dr. Akasaka declared cheerfully. He placed a plate of party food on the table which was already covered in Pudding's candy.

"Food," I beamed. I was getting tired from all of the dancing and now that I stopped to think about it, I was also hungry. Lettuce, Pudding and I walked to the table to grab food while Mint and Zakuro remained dancing.

"So what are you meant to be?" Shirogane asked me, right as I took a mouthful of party pie. I glared at him while I chewed.

"Lucy from Elfen Lied," I said after I managed to finish my mouthful.

"Oh."

"Oh shut up, I had 2 hours to put it together," I grumbled.

"You look pretty good, all things considered," he said.

"Uh, thanks?" I wasn't certain whether he was being serious or teasing me again. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "You, too." He smirked and nodded in acknowledgement.

"You ever played any Legend of Zelda?" he asked.

"Nah. Hardcore Pokémon fan, never have any money left over," I grimaced. I'd rather buy anime merchandise than games, and what money I did save for games always seemed to go on the latest Pokémon game. I knew Nintendo was scamming me, but the games were so much fun…

"Got X or Y yet?"

"I would have, y'know, if I hadn't been inconveniently kidnapped before I could buy it. I have 2 teams of level 100 Pokémon on Black 2 though," I bragged. I felt slightly weird talking to Shirogane normally. I mean, it was the usual brief sentences that most boys used to communicate, but it was more that I've only ever talked to him about weird things like being kidnapped and scientific experiments and giant monsters. Talking about Pokémon was something I did with my own friends at home in Australia, not something I did at Halloween parties with almost strangers in Japan.

"Shame. I'll get you a copy soon."

"Cheers," I nodded. "Thanks for everything else, by the way – I mean, the clothes and all that."

"I figure it's the least I can do, considering I totally messed up everyone's lives," he smiled wryly. I didn't reply – I didn't know how. We'd gone from Pokémon and back to the kidnapping. I gave a simple shrug. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means I don't know what to say," I explained.

"Fair enough." The conversation drifted into nothingness. I looked over at Lettuce and Pudding, chatting animatedly with Dr. Akasaka. I wanted to catch someone's eye so they would dance with me. I didn't want to stand alone beside Mint and Zakuro, who were looking perfect on the dance floor despite the exertion of dancing.

In fact, the closer I looked, I noticed that Mint and Zakuro were far closer to each other than before. With each swaying motion they brushed past each other. I gasped quietly as Mint suddenly grabbed Zakuro's wrist and pulled her into a quick kiss. I'd guessed that Mint liked Zakuro, but I didn't think she'd be brave enough to do that.

I politely averted my eyes, and caught a glimpse of Shirogane who was watching with a satisfied expression.

"Pervert," I hissed, grabbing his face and forcing him to look away. I felt the prickle of stubble on his jaw and almost blushed as his blue eyes flickered to meet mine.

"I didn't do anything," he protested. His voice was innocent, but the smirk on his face said otherwise.

"Whatever," I huffed, looking away, and inadvertently back to Mint and Zakuro. They'd returned to dancing like before as if nothing had happened. What does that mean? It wasn't any of my business, anyway.

"Want to dance?" Shirogane suddenly asked.

"Alright," I agreed. I was getting bored of standing around. "Hey, Lettuce, Pudding, time for more dancing?" I was quite proud of my sneaky manoeuvre – avoiding dancing with boys, technique one (honed through going to many awkward parties). The reason that I had to avoid dancing with Shirogane alone is that I wanted to. I still have Andrew waiting for me when I manage to get back to Australia. Shirogane shrugged at the minor brush-off and smiled anyway.

All five of us girls, and Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka, moved into a circle on the dance floor and spent the rest of the party moving between the dance floor and the food table – my kind of party. I enjoyed myself so much that I didn't even realise when it turned midnight. It was only when Lettuce glanced at her watch and made a horrified expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked her anxiously.

"It's the day," she explained. I didn't even have to ask what she meant. The day that the MEW Project truly commences. The day I can kiss my humanity goodbye. My heart skipped another beat, and this time, not in a good way.

After that realisation, I had no more urge to party. Halloween was over, anyway. Lettuce and I excused ourselves and retired to our bedrooms in silence. Nothing kills my party mood by realising that my life ends tomorrow. _I won't be myself by this time tomorrow,_ I thought darkly to myself.


End file.
